CHAPERONING 


4  i"*^  r^  i  r^1  NLTf  TkTf  ir^ 

ADK.IESSNE 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


V 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE 


A  Tale  of 


The  Yellowstone  National  Park 


By 

ALICE  HARRIMAN-BROWNE 


Author  of 


Stories  of  Montana,  Songs  o'  the  Sound,   Etc. 


With  illustrations  by 

CHARLES  M.  RUSSELL 

(The  Cowboy   Artist) 


and 

Photographs 


Metropolitan   Press,   Seattle 


Copyright  by 

ALICE  HARRIMAN-BROWNE 


We  were  in  the 

Yellowstone  National  Park 

From 

To 
19- 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE 


A  Tale  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park 


From  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Anabella  Ellis. 
Mammoth   Hot   Springs, 
Yellowstone  National  Park. 


HAT  husband  of  Ana- 
bella's  had  to  come 
down  with  the  measles 
or  she  never  would  have 
keyed  me  up  to  be  a 
Machiavelli,  or  whoever 
it  may  be  who  is  syn- 
onymous with  craft  and 
cruelty  to  lovers. 

Measles,  indeed!  On 
such  trivial     things     as 

measles  do  the  really  great  events  of  life  turn!  Still, 
nothing  has  turned  yet,  and  I  hope  that  nothing  will. 
I  know  nature  never  intended  me  for  a  chaperon. 
Of  course  chaperons  aren't  always  Machiavellian  (or 
whatever  I  mean)  ;  but  when  one  is  nothing  but  a 
widow  by  predestination  and  remains  one  by  free 
will  she  doesn't  want  her  twin  sister  to  force  her  into 
chaperoning  her  niece  away  from  her 

As  for  the  young  man,  Isabella  doesn't  deny  but 
that  he  isn't  so  bad  (as  young  men  go) ;  but  she 
says  he  believes  in  the  occult  and  writes  poetry.  It 
does  seem  too  bad.  He'll  outgrow  the  occult  and 
the  poetry  when  he  is  married.  His  name  is  Randolph 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

Cecil  Sears;  and  Sears  is  almost  as  much  a  fetish  in 
certain  Eastern  cities  as  Biddle  is  in  Philadelphia.  But 
sister  wants  Adrienne  to  marry  Senator  Rowley  and 
enter  the  social  life  at  Washington. 

Pretty  Adrienne  doesn't  care  a  rap  about  social 
position  in  Washington.  She  wants  Randolph;  says 
that  their  souls  were  one  in  some  previous  incarnation 
— Sears  says  so!  She  read  me  some  of  his  poetry. 
Lieutenant  Tennial  used  to  write  poetry  to  me,  too, 
years  ago.  Ah  me,  years  ago 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


I  haven't  seen  this  young  man  who  is  disturbing  the 
serenity  of  my  life.  He  was  out  of  the  city  when  1 
came  to  Isabella's  for  my  annual  visit.  Adrienne  kept 
me  awake  all  hours  the  first  night  I  arrived  telling  me 
of  Randolph.  I'm  glad  she  can  confide  in  me,  although 
I  should  have  frowned  at  her  declaration  that  she 
never,  never  would  give  him  up.  But  I  recalled  how 
opposition  had,  only  too  successfully,  separated  Lieu- 
tenant Tenniel  and  me  when  I  was  Adrienne's  age. 
The  old  heart-pain  pulsed  back  at  Adrienne's  tears. 

Adrienne  knows  that  I  consented  to  act  as  chaperon 
through  the  Yellowstone  National  Park  under  com- 
pulsion. Isabella  simply  wouldn't  let  our  summer's 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

outing  be  spoiled  by  those  horrid,  pimply  measles;  and 
insisted  that  Senator  Rowley,  Adrienne  and  I  make 
the  trip  and  she  and  her  husband  follow  if  they  could, 
later. 

The  senator  is  enormously  wealthy;  widowed  three 
times  (by  death,  Isabella  thankfully  and  piously  re- 
marked) ;  very  much  in  love  with  Adrienne,  and  his 
thoughts  vibrate  on  the  same  plane  as  Isabella's — and 
Browning's — so  he  says.  Adrienne's  vibrate  for  no- 
body but  Randolph.  However,  here  we  are,  for  Isa- 
bella, dearest,  most  amenable  person  in  the  world,  if 
she  can  have  her  own  way,  simply  compelled  us  to 
leave  home. 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

Sole  in  Senator  Rowley's  Memorandum  Book. 

Wire   Hale  about  Carol  county's  demand.      They 
want   too   much. 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

From  Adrienne's  Diary. 

Mammoth   Hot  Springs. 

I  am  going  to  set  down  everything  that  happens 
while  we  are  in  the  park.  It  will  be  such  fun  to  read 
it  over  when  I  get  to  be  an  old,  old  woman.  I 
never  thought 

Auntie  is  calling  me      ... 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


From  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Anabella  Ellis. 

Mammoth  Hot  Springs. 

I  wish  that  Adrienne  had  a  picture  of  Randolph. 
I  feel  as  though  I  knew  him,  she  talks  of  him  so  much. 
But  she  doesn't  treat  the  senator  right,  she  really 
doesn't. 

I  have  told  her  all  about  Lieutenant  Tenniel. 

When  we  left  the  train  at  Gardiner  and  were  wait- 
ing for  the  coach  to  drive  up  to  the  platform  my 
chiffon  parasol  got  caught  in  somebody's  coat  sleeve. 
A  tall,  soldierly  man,  who  was  walking  with  a  younger 
one,  turned  and  gasped:  "Mrs.  Ellis!" 

I  was  just  telling  Adrienne  that  the  lieutenant  was 
the  only  man  I  ever  loved — and  there  he  was!  Have 
I  said  that  the  years  have  brought  him  his  generality — 
no,  that  doesn't  look  right.  Anyway,  I  mean  he  is 
a  general  now. 

I  introduced  Adrienne,  and  was  delighted  to  find 
that  the  senator  already  knew  the  general.  Adrienne 
made  me  flush  with  the  roguish  look  she  gave  me; 
and  one  would  have  thought  she  knew  the  general 
always,  she  was  so  confidential,  right  away.  I  turned, 
expecting  to  be  introduced  to  the  young  man,  but  he 
had  walked  away.  Adrienne  and  the  general  went 
after  him,  but  came  back  alone  and  the  general  said 
he  would  see  us,  later,  at  the  hotel. 


'3 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

Adrienne  looked  pretty  and  flushed  on  the  coach. 
I  almost  envied  her.  She  was  in  high  spirits  and  chat- 
tered of  the  general  until  the  senator  got  quite  grumpy. 
I  think  it  would  be  better  if  she  looked  pale,  distrait. 
I  looked  that  way  when  my  love  affair  was  broken 
off.  I  wonder  if  he  remembers? 

When  I  commented  on  Adrienne's  gaity  she  hugged 
me  in  that  pretty,  impulsive  way  she  has  and  said: 
"Auntie,  dear,  you  needn't  try  to  be  grim!  You 
simply  can't  be." 

I'm  much  more  reconciled  to  this  outing  since  the 
general  appeared  on  the  scene.  I'll  have  no  eyes 
for  anybody  or  anything  if  he  joins  our  party,  and 
he  thinks  that  perhaps  he  may.  But  I  hope  Adrienne 
won't  quite  monopolize  him.  Oh,  men  are  all  alike. 
A  pretty  face,  a  young  face — and  where  are  we  wid- 
ows? 

Let  me  see.  Fifteen,  twen — how  old  I  feel  as  1 
count  the  years  since  we  parted.  I  was  eighteen.  But 
the  General  says  I  don't  look  a  day  older — bless  him! 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


From  the  Diary  of  General  Tenniel. 
Mammoth  Hot  Springs, 

Yellowstone  National  Park. 

Age,  sex  or  previous  conditions  counted  for  naught 
on  the  crowded  railroad  platform  at  the  entrance  to 
the  Yellowstone  National  Park.  We  were  as  whirling 
atoms,  with  apparently  as  little  individuality.  I  was 
pleased  to  meet  an  old  friend,  Anabella  Ellis.  She 
is,  I  now  learn,  a  widow.  I  am  foolish,  but  the  sight 
of  her  made  my  old  heart  thump. 

Mrs.  Ellis  pities  those  making  the  trip  alone.  Her 
interest  in  others  used  to  be  one  of  her  charms.  I 
wonder  if  she  will  take  pity  on  me?  She  says  she 
simply  couldn't  look  at  nature's  wonders  and  not  have 
anybody  to  talk  to  when  things  happen,  like  geysers. 
Bless  her,  she  shall  talk  to  me  all  she  wants  to — if 
she  wants  to. 

The  drive  to  the  Hot  Springs  from  the  railroad 
on  top  of  a  mountain  coach  was  exhilarating.  I 
thought  it  best  not  to  be  on  the  same  coach  as  Ana — 
Mrs.  Ellis,  until  things  had  shaped  themselves  more  to 
my  purpose  in  visiting  the  park.  In  the  long  climb 
the  foaming,  white-sprayed,  chattering  Gardiner  river 
rushes  to  meet  one  with  glad  abandon.  The  view 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

widens  gradually.  Dimensions  increase.  Wide 
stretches  of  park  and  glade,  of  forest,  of  breadths, 
heights,  depths,  materialize — we  were  in  a  new  world. 
The  sunlight — such  sunlight  as  is  seen  only  in  high 
altitudes — shimmers  and  breaks  into  a  thousand  glanc- 
ing prisms  on  the  rippling  waters  of  the  hot  springs. 

After  dinner  I  invited  the  ladies  for  a  drive  around 
the  springs  and  they  graciously  accepted  my  invitation. 

Jupiter,  the  largest  of  the  numerous  terraces,  has 
two  pools  of  purest  robin-egg  blue  on  its  summit; 
and,  as  the  terrace  is  itself  glittering  white  limestone, 
the  effect  is  wonderfully  fine. 

The  pools  are  bubbling  and  overflowing  constantly 
and  it  is  their  scalding  water  that  has  made  these  rigid 
cascades;  for  there  are  strings  of  lime  floating,  long, 
fragile  and  pendulous,  and  the  filaments  harden  almost 
instantly.  The  fallen  timber  is  bleached  by  sun  and 


16 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

storm.  The  wind  of  centuries  has  wrung  the  trunks 
until  they  look  like  gray  blankets  tightly  twisted.  An- 
cient of  Days  (for  so  has  Mrs.  Ellis  named  our  driver) 
says  that  nowhere  else  in  the  park  is  this  peculiarity 
to  be  seen. 

Angel  Terrace,  sparkling  as  with  hoar  frost,  brought 
out  our  driver's  peculiar  humor.  Miss  Adrienne  asked 
if  she  would  have  far  to  walk  to  the  Devil's  Kitchen. 
"No  furder  'n  you  want  to,"  quoth  Ancient  of  Days. 
"Some  folks  git  to  the  devil  sooner  'n  others.  A  young 
man  I  see  at  the  hotel  's  up  that  way  an*  he  's  a- 
walkin'  yet,  I  reckon."  We  wanted  to  drive  over 
the  t©p  of  Jupiter  Terrace.  "I  can't  drive  ye  in  the 
waggin;  I  kin  drive  ye  afoot." 

Something  scurried  past  us  and  Adrienne  cried: 
"A  baby  deer!  a  baby  deer!"  Ancient  was  tactless 
enough  to  tell  her  "That  's  nothin'  but  a  jack-rabbit!" 
but  I  would  have  let  her  think  it  was  what  she  so 
much  longs  to  see. 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

From  Adriennes   Diary. 

Mammoth   Hot   Springs. 

Now  I  am  going  to  sit  right  down  to-night  and 
begin.  I  have  so  much,  already,  to  write.  Oh,  dear ! 
There  is  Auntie  calling  me  ... 


- 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

From   the  Diary  of  Mrs.   Anabella  Ellis. 
Mammoth  Hot  Springs. 

I've  told  General  Tenniel  the  whole  story.  H«c 
looked  at  me  reproachfully  as  I  was  trying  to  convince 
him  that  to  marry  the  senator — for  Adrienne  to  marry 
the  senator — was  the  correct  thing.  I  spoke  of  all  the 
marriages  that  I  could  think  of  that  had  been  arranged, 
where  position  counted  for  more  than  love;  but  some- 
how I  didn't  mention  my  own.  I  kept  repeating  the 
arguments  that  Isabella  had  driven  into  my  head,  with 
spikes  of  commen  sense  and  expediency — besides,  I 
wanted  to  convince  myself.  But  his  only  comment 
was  something  that  sounded  like  "Et  tu,"  and  what 
on  earth  he  means  I'm  sure  I  do  not  know.  He  had 
been  looking  so  abstracted.  I  don't  believe  he  even 
saw  me.  "Et  tu"  sounded  quite  irrelevant  to  me.  And 
so  colloquial!  Et  tu!  Ate  two — two  what?  I 
fear  the  general's  long  years  on  the  frontier,  not  to 
speak  of  his  brilliant  campaign  in  the  Philippines,  have 
affected  his  mind.  I  wasn't  speaking  of  eating!  Then 
I  let  him  know  that  my  personal  inclinations  were  with 
love, — love,  first,  last,  and  all  the  time.  He  bright- 
ened up,  and  there  was  no  more  absent-mindedness.  I 
even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  I  wouldn't  blame  Ran- 
dolph if  he  followed  Adrienne  to  the  park.  The 
general,  I  fear,  thought  that  I  was  too  impulsive — • 
too  rash.  He  merely  looked  thoughtful  and  said 
"M-m-m!" 


"I  let  him   know  my  inclinations  were  with  love 
all   the   time." 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

He  promised  to  speak  to  Adrienne.  He  can't,  in 
decency,  make  love  to  her,  after  I've  asked  for  his 
moral  assistance.  It  is  much  better  for  her  to  marry 
Dives  than  the  prodigal  son — or  is  that  mixing  two 
biblical  incidents?  Not  that  Randolph  is  a  prodigal 
son,  exactly.  But  my  trouble  is  that  I  forget  and  sym- 
pathize with  her;  and  then,  pouf,  we  are  exchanging 
confidences. 

The  sunset  gun  and  the  lowering  of  the  flag  at  Fort 
Yellowstone  stilled  us  and  the  gorgeous  afterglow 
spread  softly.  Through  its  magical  light  walked  the 
general  and  Adrienne.  She  with 

"Her  breath  of  life 

And  face  aglow  with  the  light  of  the  sun." 

We've  been  here  several  days  and  I  haven't  seen 
the  general's  friend  but  once.  I  think  it  very  odd. 
Last  evening  he  was  walking  on  the  porch,  but  I  didn't 
have  my  lorgnette.  He  seems  a  well  set  up  young 
man,  and  I'd  like  to  meet  him.  I  like  young  men. 
But  I  suppose  that  the  general  thinks  that  he  better 
not  have  Adrienne  meet  him. 


22 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

I  called  Adrienne  into  my  room  about  an  hour  ago. 
I  wanted  her  to  brush  my  hair.  I've  pretty,  abundant 
hair;  and,  thank  heaven,  it's  not  gray  yet!  She  put 
her  arms  around  me  and  her  face  in  the  hollow  of 
my  neck — that  funny  place  where  any  one's  breath 
always  tickles  so — and,  pulling  my  hair  like  every- 
thing, she  burst  out:  "Oh,  auntie!  I  think  that  the 
general  is  just  perfectly  lovely.  He  says  that — he 
says  he'll — that  is,  he  says  that  he  understands  your 
position;  that  you  feel  that  you  must  do  your  duty. 
He  says  that  he'll  do  his  duty,  too,  as  he  sees  it. 
Isn't  he  splendid?" 

The  dear  man!  But — can  it  be  possible  that  ne 
does  not  believe  in  love  any  more?  If  he  does  would 
he  advise  marriage  with  the  senator?  Of  course  she 
didn't  say  he  said  so;  but  probably  he  did.  Poor 
young  Sears!  Not  even  the  general,  who  knows  that 
experience  is  sympathetic.  Has  the  general  forgotten 
our  love,  and  the  poetry  that  he  sent  me?  I'll  write 
it  here — just  for  old  times'  sake : 


-3 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


The  god  of  love  came  by ! 

The  god  of  love  came  by! 

He  looked  on  me — Oh,  happy  hour! 

An  arrow  swift  can  fly. 

The  god  of  love  came  by! 

The  god  of  love  came  by! 

My  heart  was  pierced,  O  joy,  O  pain ! 

Love  is  to  laugh  and  cry! 

The  god  of  love  came  by! 

The  god  of  love  came  by! 

Now  welcome  life — now  welcome  death 

For  love,  sweet  love,  have  I! 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Extract   from    Senator    Rowley's    Memorandum 
Boole. 

Wired  Hale  $5000.      Must  hurry  up  this  mattei. 
Likely   to   lose   Carol   county. 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 


From  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Anabella  Ellis. 
Mammoth  Hot  Springs. 

That  young  man  has  apparently  decided  not  to 
make  the  tour  of  the  park,  for  I  do  not  see  him  any 
more.  There  is  a  young  lady  here  whom  the  gen- 
eral asks  me  to  chaperon.  Somebody  whom  he  once 
knew,  or  knew  her  mother,  or  something  idiotic.  It 
is  too  provoking.  Just  as  though  I  did  not  have  trou- 
ble enough  chaperoning  Adrienne.  She  is  with  the 
general  the  most  of  the  time,  and  I,  for  one,  would 
not  blame  the  senator  if  he  left  the  party  and  gave 
up  all  hope  of  securing  Adrienne  for  wife  numbei 
four.  But  he  is  cheerful  and  accepts  the  new-comer 
far  more  graciously  than  I  fear  I  ever  can.  In  fact, 
he  confided  to  me  that  it  would  leave  him  wholly  free 
to  win  Adrienne,  and  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  sketch 
the  coach  arrangement — we  start  from  here  to-morrow. 

Why  do  men  always  have  to  illustrate  with  a  paper 
and  pencil?  Talk  to  a  man  three  minutes  and  he'll 
be  drawing  a  plan  of  the  subject  talked  about,  on 
the  back  of  an  old  envelope!  It  irritates  me!  He 
placed  us  thus  in  hi>  diagram: 

Adrienne  and  I  (Rowley)  on  the  front  seat  (he 
has  so  much  egotism ) . 

Tenniel  and  the  other  girl,  middle  seat  (I  hate 
both  men). 


26 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

Mrs.  Ellis,  back  seat,  chaperon.  (That  is  insuffer- 
able). 

Oh,  yes!  That  is  very  nice — except  for  poor  lit- 
tle me!  I  wonder  who  this  person  is  that  is  traveling 
alone,  unchaperoned  ?  I  will  go  now  and  ask  the 
general.  I  shall  tell  him  very  plainly  that  I  do  not 
approve 

The  general  has  a  peculiar  masterfulness  that  comes. 
I  fancy,  from  long  dominance  over  men.  He  took 
me  to  a  quiet  corner  of  the  verandah;  but  I  was  re- 
served. But  he  has  such  a  way ! 

I  wish  I  could  analyze  the  reasons  why  the  hold- 
ing of  a  person's  hand  puts  one  so  en  rapport  with 
a  narrator.  And  he  has  such  strong,  firm,  dear  hands. 

I  recall,  but  vaguely,  all  that  he  said.  I  drifted  back 
f  o  the  time  when  he  used  to  hold  my  hands 

I  came  to  the  present  with  a  start  as  he  was  say- 
ing: 

"And  so,  my  dear  Ana — Mrs.  Ellis,  as  her  par- 
ents are  dead;  as  she  won't  have  a  maid;  as  she's 
feeling  dreadfully  over  her  blighted  love  affair,  I  felt 
liat  the  conventions  could  be  preserved  if  she  might 
travel  under  your  gentle  chaperonage.  "I  admit/'  he 
hastened  to  add,  "I've  not  told  Rowley  all  this. 
I  preferred  to  leave  it  with  your  kind  heart." 

I  promised  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  make  the  girl 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

happy.  I  asked  him  when  she  came  into  the  park, 
but  he  didn't  hear  me,  I  fancy,  for  he  just  pressed 
my  hands  with  a  smile. 

"What  is  her  name?"  I  asked,  as  he  went  to 
bring  her  to  be  introduced. 

"Her  name?  Her  name  is — er — Siggins — Miss 
Siggins.  Just  for  a  moment,  I  couldn't  think  what 
to  call  her." 

How  age  does  show  in  little  things  like  lack  of 
memory. 

I  never  acknowledge  it;  but  I  forget  names,  too,  at 
times.  But  I  lo — ike  him  too  well  to  call  attention  to 
his  failing. 

Just  then  the  senator  and  Adrienne  came  up.  He 
has  broken  his  glasses — he  is  dreadfully  near-sighted, 
and  practically  blind  without  them.  But  he  has  wired 
for  others  and  insists  that  he  can  get  along  until  the 
new  ones  overtake  us. 

Miss  Siggins  is  not  a  girlish  sort  of  a  person.  She 
had  on  her  sunbonnet  as  she  came  on  the  porch  with 
the  general.  Adrienne  and  I  have  sunbonnets,  too; 
but  we  don't  wear  them  all  the  time.  My  heart  went 
out  to  the  embarrassed  girl.  She  is  painfully  shy. 
I  felt  the  divinity  of  motherhood  at  once.  I  saw 
Adrienne's  shoulders  shake.  I  whispered,  hastily. 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

"For  heaven's  sake,  Adrienne,  don't  let  Miss  Sig- 
gins  see  that  you  pity  her!"  Then,  to  offset  my  niece's 
thoughtlessness,  I  welcomed  the  newcomer  more  cor- 
dially than  is  my  wont  with  strangers.  But  her  sk'.rt 
hung  ever  so  little  below  her  leather  belt. 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

From  Senator  Rowley's  Memorandum  Book. 

Damn   the   luck!      Broke   glasses.      Wired  to  Chi- 
cago for  duplicate.      Carol  county  safe. 


^ 


3° 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 


From  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Anabclla  Ellis. 

The  Fountain. 

We  did  not  get  away  from  the  Springs  until  today. 
I  was  sorry  to  leave.  The  gentlemen  knew  every- 
body at  Fort  Yellowstone,  and  Adrienne  had  more 
attention  than  was  good  for  her.  The  senator  got  quite 
thoughtful  at  times;  and,  then,  always  came  to  me 
for  solace.  And  I  am  sure  that  Miss  Siggins  was 
jealous  of  Adrienne,  and  perhaps  of  me,  too.  But 
she  should  remember  that  Adrienne  is  pretty — and 
young.  I'm  sure  Miss  Siggins  looks  over  thirty.  While 
thirty  is  permissible  in  a  widow — but  there,  I'm  not 
one  to  think  invidiously.  As  for  myself,  I  had  to 
remind  myself,  several  times  a  day,  that  I  was  a  chap- 
eron and  not  a  debutante.  A  widow  who  knows  how, 
can  command  her  slaves  in  serried  ranks.  My!  that 
sounds  like  Childe  Harold,  or  Smart  Set,  or  something. 

I've  never  thought  to  ask  the  general  where  Miss 
Siggins'  home  is.  She  is  not  graceful.  She  tripped 
over  her  skirt  twice  as  she  was  getting  into  the  coach. 
I  tried  to  make  her  feel  at  ease,  and  I  think  I  suc- 
ceeded; for  after  a  time  the  anxious,  half-frightened 
look  left  her  face  and  she  even  smiled  at  some  sally 
of  the  senator's.  She's  got  perfect  teeth,  I  can  con- 
scientiously say  that  much  in  her  favor.  And  such 
thick  hair!  I  noticed  that  she  had  burned  her  fore- 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 


head — how  foolish  to  use  a  curling  iron.  But  I  sup- 
pose that  she  has  to,  because  one  can  see  that  it  is 
short  in  front.  That  makes  me  think,  I've  not  seen 
her  without  her  sunbonnet,  yet.  Odd. 

The  general  devotes  himself  to  Miss  Siggins  and 
to  me,  and  so  the  senator  is  given  all  opportunity  to 
address  himself  to  Adrienne — who  takes  it  badly.  On 
the  long  ride  here,  of  course,  I  chattered  a  great  deal — 
I  just  love  to  talk;  but  I  don't  believe  Miss  Siggins 
said  one  word  until  noon.  When  we  went  in  to  lunch 
at  the  Norris  lunch  station  the  senator  was  in  high 
spirits.  He  whispered  to  me,  in  a  perfectly  audible 
whisper,  "I'm  getting  on!"  and  Miss  Siggins,  who 
was  walking  directly  in  front  of  me,  turned  just  then, 
so  abruptly  that  she  nearly  upset  me.  She  scowled  at 
the  senator  dreadfully.  I'm  sure,  she  needn't  think 
that  the  senator  is  going  to  make  love  to  her.  She 
lacks  repose.  And  oh,  she  is  dreadfully  flat-chested. 
Her  shirt  waists  set  exactly  as  the  waists  of  some  Bos- 
ton school  teachers  who  are  touring  the  park — the  full- 
ness behind.  I  ache  to  puff  them  out  in  front  and  to 
pull  them  down  in  the  back — Miss  Siggins'  shirt  waists, 
I  mean — but  somehow,  I'm  a  little  afraid  of  hei.  She 
is  very  stand-off-ish. 

The  senator  was  asked  today,  by  some  person  of 
an  inquiring  turn  of  mind,  if  any  petrefactions  had 
ever  been  seen  in  the  park.  "Oh,  yes,"  he  answered, 
readily,  "there  are  those  Boston  school-ma'ams!" 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Extract  from  General  Tenniel's  Diary. 

The  Fountain. 

Adrienne  asked  Ancient  of  Days  what  we  should 
see  at  the  Lower  Basin.  With  a  touch  of  awe  in 
his  merry  blue  eyes  he  waved  a  comprehensive  hand 
toward  the  uncanny  vista,  drawing  near  as  we  sped 
along  drawn  by  splendid  horses.  "Ye'll  find  hell 
there!"  I  thought  the  sentence  unnecessarily  emphatic; 
but  after  I  had  been  over  the  shaky  crust  between  the 
lunch  station  and  minute  man  geyser,  I  wasn't  sure 
but  I  should  so  describe  it  myself. 

So  much  to  see;  so  few  words  to  describe  it  all! 
We  had  not  turne'd  from  the  main  road  into  the 
smaller  one  leading  to  the  picturesque  stopping  place 
before  we  heard  the  sound  of  a  saw-mill  in  active  ope- 
ration. The  illusion  is  perfect;  yet  the  noise  came 
from  a  small  rent  in  a  rocky  bank.  Near  by,  in  a 
hole,  unthinkably  deep,  was  water  boiling  furiously, 
thick  with  sulphur.  Clouds  of  steam,  spurting  jets 
of  water  rising,  falling,  disappearing,  were  to  be  seen 
wherever  we  looked. 

It  is  said  that  the  Upper  Basin  has  more  impressive 
geysers  than  we  saw  at  the  Lower  Basin;  but  it  seems 
impossible  that  anything  could  equal  in  horror  the 
devilish  ferocity  of  the  venthole  whose  emitted  steam 
howls,  hisses,  bellows,  like  demons  tortured.  No  water: 


33 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

the  fire  below  is  too  hot,  and  scalding  clouds  of  steam 
come  belching  from — where? 

The  Black  Growler,  a  geyser  shooting  from  a  petri- 
fied tree  stump,  ceased  its  flow  when  this  other  broke 
out  a  few  years  ago.  We  looked  into  the  old  tree, 
hollowed  by  the  long  action  of  the  spouting  water, 
and  could  see  the  muttering  water  far  in  its  depths. 

I  was  glad  to  feel  Mrs.  Ellis  clinging  to  me  in  des- 
perate fear.  I  wish  that  she  would  cling  to  me  for  the 
rest  of  life.  Not  in  fear,  but  as  her  natural  protector. 
She  has  changed  but  little;  and,  indeed,  I  can  see  that 
her  old  love  for  admiration  is  as  strong  as  ever.  Cer- 
tain indications  make  me  think  that  she,  and  not 
Adrienne,  is  the  greater  attraction  for  the  taciturn  sen- 
ator. But  Anabel — Mrs.  Ellis — carries  herself  with 
the  greatest  aplomb,  and  keeps  us  all — me,  especially, 
guessing. 

During  the  long  drive  of  the  afternoon  we  passed 
Roaring  Mountain,  Obsidian  Cliff  (whkh  the  senator 
explained  meant  black  glass!  It  reminded  me  of  a  man 
who  once  thought  necessary  to  tell  me  that  Aurora  Bo- 
realis  meant  Northern  Lights!),  and  three  miniature 


34 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

lakes  whose  coloring  no  man  can  explain,  strung  closely 
as  they  are  on  a  slender  thread  of  sunburned  grass.  One 
was  beryl,  another  palest  turquoise,  and  the  last  red 
brown.  Appolinaris  spring  came  next,  and  while  we 
walked  up  the  steep  hillside  to  it,  Adrienne  and  Miss 
Siggins  stayed  in  the  coach.  Adrienne's  sunbonnet 
seems  to  make  her  modest,  infrequent  glances  seem 
intended  but  for  one, — the  one  who  chances  to  be 
peering  into  its  gingham  depths. 

Long  before  we  reached  the  Fountain  Hotel  we 
could  see  it,  and  as  we  drove  up  the  Fountain  geyser 
welcomed  us  with  a  shower  of  opals  and  dew-spangled 
cobwebs — the  setting  sun  serving  admirably  as  a  back- 
ground for  the  display. 

Here  in  this  natural  meadow  and  close  pressing  for- 
est, dwelt  Johnny  Bear  and  his  mother  Grumpy.  Here 
did  Ernest  Thompson-Seton  lie  concealed  in  the  gar- 
bage to  watch  the  bears,  and  Adrienne  begged  to  do 
the  same.  She  was  sure  that  she  would  see  "Johnny," 
"whose  whole  appearance  suggested  dyspepsia." 
Away  she  flew  to  the  pile  of  tin  cans,  before  we  had 
hardly  pulled  up  in  front  of  the  hotel,  and  Miss 
Siggins  after  her.  (I  hope  that  Mrs.  Ellis  will  never 
know  that  Ancient  of  Days  rejoices  in  the  name  of 
Siggins!) 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

We  older  people  followed  more  sedately  to  the 
edge  of  the  forest  and  there,  to  Adrienne's  great  joy, 
were  four  bears  feeding.  With  no  fear  of  ptomaine 
poisoning  they  ate  from  jam  pots,  peach,  bean,  lobster 
and  tomato  cans,  and  a  fifth  bear  came  shambling 
down  the  slope  even  as  did  the  grizzly  when  little 
Johnny  set  up  a  whine  and  got  behind  his  mother. 
Indeed,  it  was  a  pretty  sight  and  we  enjoyed  Adri- 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

enne's  ecstacies.  I  noticed  that  the  horses  grazed  near, 
undisturbed  by  the  bears'  proximity.  This  was  straiige 
to  me,  who,  from  years  on  the  frontier,  have  come  to 
know  that  horses  are  particularly  afraid  of  bears,  and 
scent  their  odor  from  afar.  Yet  here  they  were,  like 
the  lion  and  the  lamb.  Civilization  is  degenerating  to 
both  man  and  beast.  I  said  this  to  Rowley  and  he 
nodded  gloomily  and  stalked  from  the  bears'  banqueting 
hall  to  that  of  his  kind,  for  Adrienne  had  elected  to 
walk  with  me. 

Every  day  that  we  travel  away  from  ordinary  ex- 
istence and  its  cares  we  realize  that  "every  day  is 
the  world  made  new."  Worries  seem  immaterial  as 
we  breathe  this  rarified  air,  and  look  on  the  wide  per- 
spective of  these  uplands  of  the  earth.  I  could  almost 
make  myself  believe  that  I  could  win  dear  Anabella 
during  this  trip;  but  I  know  that  is  folly.  An  old, 
worn-out  army  man  with  no  millions  to  give  her  .  .  . 

But  her  vivacious  delight  in  what  each  hour  brings 
gives  zest  to  our  enjoyment  and  her  happiness  in- 
creases mine.  She  is  but  Adrienne  grown  a  little 
older,  and  Adrienne  is  certainly  the  prettiest  girl  in  afl 
the  world  and  I  do  not  wonder  that  rogue  Cupid  has 
ensnared  all  men's  hearts  in  his  lariat;  for  Cupid,  in 
the  west,  is  a  cowboy,  with  rope  coiled  for  its  flight, 
rather  than  the  traditional  Cupid  with  the  Forest-of- 
Arden  arrows. 


37 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 


rf 


From  Adrienne's  Diary. 

The  Fountain. 

This  afternoon  Auntie  and  I  went  into  the  woods. 
When  we  turned  toward  the  hotel  the  trail  was  dim 
— in  fact,  there  wasn't  any.  We  were  so  scared. 
I  wished  that  Randolph  was  with  me.  By  and  by 
I  saw  a  baby  bear  up  a  tree;  and  directly  we  heard 
most  blood-curdling  noises  rear  us.  Auntie  got  as 
pale  as  death  and  whispered:  "The  mother  bear." 
It  was,  I  knew  it  was!  Oh,  how  we  ran.  But  those 
horrid  noises  kept  right  on;  loud,  soft,  whistling  and 
grunting  all  at  once.  Then  the  underbrush  crackled; 
we  screamed,  brush  broke  sharply,  a  form  straightened 
up — and  there  was  Ancient  of  Days!  I  could  have 
killed  him  for  frightening  us  so!  He,  it  seems,  had 
gone  out  for  a  stroll,  and,  watching  some  chipmunks, 
fell  asleep.  His  snores  we  mistook  for  bears'  growls. 
It  was  too  mortifying. 

The  men  of  our  party  had  heard  the  scream?  and 
came  running  to  our  rescue.  The  general  was  devoted 
to  auntie.  It  was  delightful.  And  the  way  Miss  Sig- 
gins  gave  fits  to  the  driver  was  something  astounding. 
I'll  warrant  that  he  was  astonished. 

I  had  the  loveliest  poetry  tucked  into  my  hand  to- 
night. I'll  copy  it  here,  but  Auntie  must  never  see  this 
diary.  I  think  it  is  the  loveliest  poem  I  ever  read. 
Bliss  Carmen  or  Clinton  Scollard  or — Ella  Wilcox  do 
not  compare 


CHAPERONING  ADRILNNE. 
DREAMING  OF  YOU 

A   sea-gull    drifting   o'er   me, 

Beneath,  the  waves — deep  blue; 
Yet  I  close  my  eyes,  oh,  gladly, 

To  dream  of  you. 

Dreaming,  dreaming,  dreaming  of  you,  of  you; 
Thrilling  with  bliss  at  the  thought  of  your  kiss 
Dreaming,  sweetheart  of  you. 

A   gorge  in  snow-capped  mountains, 

A  torrent  rushing  through; 
Yet  I  close  my  eyes,  oh,  gladly, 

To  dream  of  you. 

Dreaming,  dreaming,  dreaming  of  you,  of  you; 
Thrilling  with  bliss  at  the  thought  of  your  kiss, 
Dreaming,  sweetheart,  of  you. 


39 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Extract  from  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Anabella  Ellis. 

The  Fountain  Hotel. 

The  general  is  like  a  boy.  Dignity  is  cast  aside ;  and 
I  almost  believe,  at  times,  that  my  olden  lover  is  mine 
once  more.  But  he  occasionally  looks  wistfully  (I 
imagine),  at  Adrienne,  as  though  he  envied  the  sen- 
ator his  semi-accepted  state.  If  he  should  fall  in  love 
with  her  (and  how  can  he  help  it,  she  is  so  pretty  and 
vivacious?)  my  heart  would  break.  I  simply  couldn't 
bear  it — he  my  nephew-in-law ! 

It's  hard  to  see  the  young  growing  up.      Men  al- 


40 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


ways  want  young  wives.  We  widows  of  fo — we 
widows  are  all  very  well  to  flirt  with,  but  when  it 
comes  to  marrying 

Oh,  well!  I  had  my  opportunity  once,  and  it  was 
taken  from  me  by  expediency!  I  wish  that  I  could 
put  expediency  out  of  the  way  for  Adrienne  and  let 
her  marry  the  one  she  loves.  The  general  is  even  a 
better  parti  than  the  senator.  I  must  chaperon  Adri- 
enne very  closely. 

How  I  ramble!  I  started  to  write  that  the  general 
made  us  laugh  by  throwing  himself  on  the  ground  undei 
the  shade  of  some  pines,  after  lunch,  and  declaring 
that  he  felt  equal  to  a  handspring.  The  tourists  stared 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 


and  Miss  Siggins  said  "So  could  I!"  I  never  encour- 
age hoydens;  nor  do  I  approve  of  athletics  for  ladies. 
Adrienne  differs  from  me  in  this;  but  I'm  thankful 
that  golf  and  heavy  soled  shoes  have  not  changed  her 
form.  If  one  has  a  figure — keep  it,  say  I !  But  a 
Miss  Siggins  may  go  in  for  athletics  to  her  heart's 
content.  It  can't  ruin  what  never  was.  Somehow 
that  reminds  me  that  she  wore  her  sunbonnet  in  to 
lunch.  I  wanted  to  change  my  waist  and  be  fresh  and 
dainty,  but  no  suit-case  but  Miss  Siggins'  showed  up.  I 
noticed  that  it  was  covered  with  foreign  hotel  and 
steamer  pasters.  So  she  must  have  traveled.  I  hate  a 
new  suit-case.  The  initials  were  R.  C.  S.,  and  I 
asked  Adrienne  what  she  supposed  her  given  name 
was.  She  said  Randolph,  and  then  looked  so  fright- 
ened and  got  so  scarlet  that  I  quite  pitied  her.  I 
assured  her  that  I  understood,  perfectly,  how  her 
thoughts  were  always  of  Randolph.  Then  I  confessed 
that  when  I  was  her  age  that  General  Tenniel's  name 
was  often  on  my  lips,  just  for  the  pleasure  of  repeating 
it.  She  was  grateful  for  my  ready  intuition,  and  said 
that  I  was  the  dearest  Auntie  in  the  whole  world. 
Then  she  added,  slyly:  "And  do  you  say  the  gen- 
eral's name  now,  Auntie,  'just  for  the  pleasure  of  it?'  ' 
I  tried  to  box  her  ears,  the  rogue;  but  she  ran  away 
laughing. 

Adrienne  has  taken  such  a  fancy  to  Miss  Siggins. 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

They've  told  each  other  their  love  affairs.  Isn't  that 
just  like  girls — confidential  right  away.  I  wish  that 
Miss  Siggins  would  confide  in  me.  I'd  give  her  the 
benefit  of  my  own  experience.  But  I  don't  want  to 
be  officious.  Adrienne  says  that  she's  going  to  do 
everything  in  her  power  to  make  Miss  Siggins  happy 
while  she's  with  us,  and  she  feels  that  in  listening  to 
another's  sorrows  she  quite  forgets  her  own.  I  think 
that  is  beautiful,  and  shows  such  a  Christian  spirit. 
So  the  girls  sat  in  the  back  seat  of  the  coach  when 
we  left  the  Norris  Basin,  and  I  saw  Miss  Siggins  sur- 
reptitiously holding  Adrienne's  hand.  The  dear  lonely 
child!  I  could  have  kissed  them  both!  Girls  are 
often  drawn  together  like  that  by  the  laws  of — I 
don't  know  exactly  what;  but  Isabella  would  know 
if  she  were  here.  She'd  appreciate  the  situation.  Per- 
haps she'd  think  that  Adrienne  was  neglecting  the 
senator  for  Miss  Siggins,  and  I  rather  feel  that  way 
myself.  So  I've  put  myself  out  to  be  most  agreeable 
to  him,  and  I  flatter  myself  that  I  succeeded.  In  fact, 
I'm  afraid  that  I  rather  overdid  it,  for  he  seemed  quite 
forgetful  of  Adrienne,  and  grew  more  and  more  ani- 
mated and — interesting.  Men  are  so  odd. 

The  general  took  us  through  the  tall,  slim  lodge- 
pole  pines  this  morning,  explaining  the  Indian  sign  lan- 
guage. It  must  have  been  interesting  to  live  on  the 
plains  when  Indians  and  buffalo,  game  and  solitude 
were  plenty;  but  he  seems  to  think  that  recollections 
are  the  better. 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


Adrienne,  ever  alert,  saw  a  bear.  Fifty  feet  up  a 
tree  it  was,  big  and  black  and  shining.  Perhaps  it  was 
Grumpy.  The  bear  looked  tolerantly  at  us  while  we 
took  her  picture,  and  even  signified  friendliness  by  wig- 
wagging one  paw  lazily — to  drive  off  flies,  Miss  Sig- 
gins  unpoetically  said.  There  was  no  attempt  at  hypno- 
tic influence  on  our  part — or  on  the  bear's;  but  when 
she  started  to  descend  from  her  tree,  we  walked  as 
from  the  presence  of  royalty,  backward,  until  out  of 
the  woods! 

While  out  in  the  edge  of  the  woods  we  saw  a  little 
animal  that  reminded  the  general  of  early  days  i.i 
Montana.  A  party  of  officers  went,  late  one  after- 
noon, he  said,  to  shoot  ducks  in  a  slough  near  the 
fort  where  he  was  then  stationed.  As  their  striker 
picked  up  bird  after  bird  he  would  shout  excitedly: 
"I've  got  one!"  "Here's  another!"  "An'  begobs, 
here's  another!"  until,  stooping  in  the  fading  light, 
he  picked  up  what  he  supposed  to  be  quite  the  largest 
duck  winged.  His  shouts  of  delight  and  admiration 
changed  suddenly  to  yells  of  disaster  and  fright. 
No  need  to  inquire  the  cause!  He  held  a  live  and 
indignant  skunk! 

\: 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


45 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

Extract  from  the  Diary  of  General  Tenniel. 
Old  Faithful  Inn,  Upper  Basin. 

"Now,  my  lady,"  said  the  man  at  the  desk  (a  genial, 
world-without-end-hotel  clerk)  almost  before  we  had 
registered,  "Old  Faithful  has  been  waitin'  for  you; 
and  I've  held  back  the  Castle  geyser  exactly  three  days 
and  four  minutes." 

Such  a  welcome  made  its  impression,  of 
course,  and  we  sallied  forth  to  see  the  grand  old  gey- 
ser play. 

Old  Faithful!  That  majestic  geyser  greeted  us 
gloriously.  It  never  fails,  no  matter  how  others  sulk 
and  delay.  Every  sixty-three  minutes  its  fairy-airy, 
tall  and  spraying  column  rises,  and  the  breeze  sways  it 
lightly,  shattering  it  into  lacy,  fragile  plumes  and 
ethereal  mist.  Fascinating,  dreamlike,  is  this  shaft 


46 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

whose  advent  is  heralded  by  sudden  rushes  and  short 
uplifts  of  sounding,  splashing,  boiling  water.  Stead- 
ily, forcefully,  resistlessly,  the  majestic  pillar  rises,  up, 
up,  up,  until  one's  neck  is  cranned  far  back  to  view  its 
height.  Gradually  it  subsides,  and  you  give  thanks 
that  you  have  lived  to  see  its  glory. 

The  nine  mile  drive  from  the  Fountain  to  the 
Upper  Basin  has  almost  a  plethora  of  interests.  The 
Gibbon  river,  canyon  and  falls,  and  many  springs  of 
many  hues  and  incalcuable  depths  vied  with  Prisma- 
lake — irridescent  as  the  inside  of  a  sea-shell,  and 
Morning  Glory  pool.  This  last  rivals  its  namesake 
in  color,  while  its  fluted  and  trumpet-shaped  corolla 
heightened  the  similarity.  To  my  mind  its  intense  and 
shaded  blue  is  the  most  beautiful  thing  that  we  have 
yet  seen. 

At  a  cold  spring  (most  of  the  springs  along  the 
road  are  hot  or  lukewarm)  Ancient  of  Days,  on 
being  offered  a  dipper  of  water  said  gallantly:  "Water 
the  ladies,  first,"  and  he  glanced  sheepishly  at  the 
fair  ladies  adorning  our  coach.  Perhaps  I've  not 
mentioned  that  we  call  our  driver  that  name  because 
he  is  a  nice,  open-faced  lad  of  twenty-two. 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

From   the  Diary   of  Mrs.  Anabella  Ellis. 

Old  Faithful. 

The  clerk  asked  if  we  three  ladies  would  occupy 
the  same  apartment  for  one  night.  I  was  mortified 
the  way  our  girls  behaved.  Adrienne  spoke  up, 
quickly:  "Of  course  not!"  and  Miss  Siggins  chimed, 
"What  are  you  thinking  of!"  I'm  sure  the  clerk 
couldn't  help  it  that  those  Boston  teachers  were  in  such 
numbers.  I  was  about  to  insist  that  the  clerk  make 
such  arrangments  as  seemed  necessary;  but  the  general 
said  he'd  arrange  that.  I  suppose  he  paid  extra  for 
we  each  have  our  separate  rooms. 

The  days  go  by  on  butterfly  wings  of  yellow 
sunlight.  I  havn't  an  atom  of  curiosity;  but  I'd  like  to 
know  what  my  girls  talk  about  as  they  walk  and 
walk.  Miss  Siggins  is  such  a  silent  person  that  1 
suppose  that  Adrienne  chatters  and  she  listens.  It 
is  an  interesting  sight.  Isabella  would  just  love  to 
see  them  together.  Adrienne  thinks  only  of  making 
Miss  Siggins  happy  and  it  is  delightful  to  see  her 
invent  little  excuses  to  be  with  her.  In  the  meantime 
the  onus  of  entertaining  two  very  agreeable  gentlemen 
falls  on  me  and  I  must  say  that  they  do  not  seem 
bored — neither  am  I.  But  the  general  glowers  if  the 
senator  sits  too  long  beside  me;  and  the  senator  fig- 
gits  when  I  walk  with  the  general.  The  senator's 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

manner  toward  Adrienne  grows  more  friendly  and  less 
loverlike  every  day.  Isabella  would  be  furious.  But 
what  can  I  do?  What  am  I  to  think?  What  is  one 
to  think?  I  told  Isabella  that  I  wouldn't  make  a  good 
chaperon. 

During  the  afternoon  the  Castle,  whose  irruptions 
occur  every  ten  or  twelve  hours,  poured  out  its  fury 
for  nearly  an  hour.  It  was  terrifying!  What  can  it 
be,  behind  and  underneath?  The  thrill  of  agoni- 
zed struggle  to  escape  was  felt  by  even  the  globe- 
trotters who  "Didn't  think  much  of  the  park,  anyway. 
It's  over-rated,  don't  you  know?"  The  general  stood 
watching  the  writhing  clouds  of  steam,  with  head 
uncovered,  as  though  the  flag  were  passing  by;  and 
the  senator  attempted  to  put  his  arm  around  Adrienne's 
waist — purely  as  a  precaution,  he  explained,  in  case 
anything  happened.  Miss  Siggins  was  holding  my 
niece's  hand,  and  Adrienne  drew  away  from  the  senator 
hastily.  I  was  clinging  to  the  general. 

We  havn't,  so  far,  seen  any  of  the  more  infrequent 
geysers  play.  They  are  as  uncertain  as  an  April 
day;  but  the  various  cones  and  pits  from  whence  the 
boiling  water  occasionally  spouts  are  to  be  seen  in 


49 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


every  direction,  and  steam  is  constantly  rising.  On 
cool  mornings  the  whole  Basin  is  wrapped  in  mist. 

Every  evening  we  go  to  the  malodorous  garbage 
pile  to  watch  the  bears  eat.  Some  nights  there  are 
no  bears.  Last  night,  after  a  prolonged  wait,  we 
walked  through  the  cool  dark  toward  the  cheerful 
blaze  of  the  office  fire,  and  a  supposed  tree-stump 
evolved  itself  into  the  form  and  likeness  of  a  black 
bear.  He  made  for  the  outspread  tidbits  —  and  we 
for  the  hotel.  Perhaps  he  wasn't  scared.  We  were. 

Some  of  the  sight-seers  found  a  bleached  elk  horn 
today  and  it  caused  much  excitement.  "What  makes 
it  so  white?"  "What  makes  it  have  prongs?"  "Why, 
it's  an  antler's  horns!"  are  some  of  the  remarks  we've 
heard.  "These  antler's  horns  are  ossified!"  shrieked 
one  male  school  ma'am.  Miss  Siggins  choked  sud- 
denly. The  general  asked  solicitously  if  she  had  an 
ossified  bone  in  her  throat!  The  horns  were  finally 
impartially  divided  among  the  personally  conducted  as 
souvenirs  of  the  park. 

We  have  never  learned  why  soap  put  in  the  gey- 
ser craters  will  cause  great  and  wonderful  outbursts 
for  hours,  and  then  for  months  and  years  there'll  be 
no  action.  There's  a  heavy  fine  for  putting  soft 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 


soap  in  the  craters,  as  several  of  the  best  geysers  have 
been  destroyed  by  such  vandalism.  I  asked  the  senator, 
today,  if  he  had  found  out  the  reason;  but  he  was  the 
most  ignorant  of  our  party,  so  he  said,  absently;  for 
he  was  devoting  himself  assiduously  to  the  study  of 
light  and  shade,  of  happy,  upcurved  lips  and  Adrien- 
ne's  girlish  face  framed  in  the  depths  of  her  light- 
blue  sunbonnet. 

It  is  long  past  mid-night;  but  Adrienne  suggested 
that  we  view  Old  Faithful  in  the  stillness. 
Miss  Siggms  declined  to  join  us,  so  the  general  and 
I  chaperoned  the  senator  and  Adrienne.  As  we 
turned  away  from  the  dying  geyser  I  noticed  that 
same  young  man  whom  I  saw  at  the  springs.  I 
am  sure  it  was  he  although  I  understood  that  he  had 
decided  not  to  make  the  tour.  He  was  sitting  on 
a  fallen  tree  trunk  near  the  geyser,  and  his  cigar  was 
a  good  one,  if  one  judges  by  the  odor.  The  general 
didn't  see  him,  evidently,  and,  as  he  was  recalling 
some  passages  of  our  youth  I  didn't  interrupt  him. 


I 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

Extract  from  General  Tenniel's  Diary. 

Old  Faithful  Inn. 

Midnight,  and  the  great  dome  of  heaven  glitters 
with  limitless  lines  of  stars.  We  took  our  way  toward 
the  sky-reaching  majesty  of  Old  Faithful,  who  seems 
to  be 

"Holding  a  human  heart  that  sleeps, 

W^ild   with   rushing   dreams   and   deep   with   the 

sadness 

That  dwells  at  the  core  of  all  things." 
Then  came  the  rush  of  the  waters  and  Old  Faith- 
ful appeared,  a  ghost  of  himself.  "He,  watching  over 
Israel,  slumbers  not  nor  sleeps."  Summer's  heat  nor 
winter's  lonliness  changes  him  not,  and  his  stead- 
fastness steadied  nerves  somewhat  shaken  by  the  weird- 
ness  and  unstableness  of  this  geyser  land. 

The  silence,  the  night,  the  mysteries  of  the  earth, 
lay  heavy  upon  us.  I  spoke  of  our  youth  to  Ana- 
bella  and  she  responded  in  so  dear  a  mood  that  an  hour 
went  by  most  pleasantly.  I  begin  to  hope — 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Before  we  reached  the  hotel  a  flare  of  light  came 
from  the  North,  and  a  great  white  glory,  touched 
with  crimson  and  yellow,  pink  and  saffron,  showed  that 
the  Giantess,  overdue  five  days,  had  arrived  in  bar- 
baric magnificence,  and  was  being  welcomed,  as  was 
her  due,  with  a  huge  bonfire  built  by  park  soldier 
guards.  St.  John  endeavored  to  depict  the  riches  of 
the  New  Jerusalem.  The  jeweled  radiance  of  the 
night,  and  of  my  darling's  eyes,  must  remain  unworded. 
God  bless  my  Anabella! 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

From  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Anabella  Ellis. 

Still  at  the  Inn. 

This  morning  Adrienne  capped  the  climax  of  her 
incessant  questioning  by  asking,  at  the  breakfast  table, 
why  bears  have  joints  in  their  legs.  Absurd  an- 
swers were  given.  She  declares  that  she  meant  to 
ask  why  bears  have  two  joints  in  their  fore  legs, 
and  has  assumed  an  aggrieved  air  which  is  rather 
becoming.  Miss  Siggins,  who,  by  the  way,  rarely 
favors  us  with  her  company  at  meals,  also  looks 
aggrieved;  but  it  is  not  becoming.  She  sits  on  stumps 
and  intently  looks  at  nothing.  Poor  thing !  I  hope  she 
doesn't  feel  de  trop.  I  must  insist  that  she  stay  with 
me  more. 


54 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 


I've  heard  a  new  story  about  the  manager.  Once, 
he  went  out  to  show  some  tourists  the  bears'  feeding 
place.  They  had,  it  seems,  been  there  before  their 
visitors,  and  had  strewn  the  rubbish  far  and  wide. 
The  man  was  vexed.  "Those  bears  have  been  raising 
hell  around  here!"  he  exclaimed.  The  next  night  his 
small  daughter  was  doing  the  honors  of  the  menag- 
erie. "Those  bears  have  been  raising  hell  around 
here!"  she  innocently  explained,  to  the  guests'  con- 
sternation. He  no  longer  explodes — when  little  daugh- 
ter is  within  hearing! 

I've  discovered  why  Miss  Siggins  has  acted  so 
oddly  today.  Poor,  dear  girl!  She's  afflicted  almost 
beyond  mortal  or  angel  resignation!  I've  mistrusted 
something  of  this  sort  for  several  days,  although  my 
eyes  are  oftener  turned  toward  the  general  than  other- 
where. But  this  afternoon  I  spied  Miss  Siggins  going 
out  with  a  thick  veil  over  her  sunbonnet,  and  I 
followed;  for,  if  she'd  been  crying  and  was  ashamed 
of  her  red  eyelids,  I  wanted  to  sympathize — and  find 
out  what  was  the  matter.  The  very  slope  of  her  shoul- 
ders signified  despair,  and  we  walked  in  silence  for  a 
time.  I  finally  asked  her,  in  as  delicate  a  way  as  I 
could,  what  was  troubling  her.  I  told  her  to  open 
her  heart  to  me, — a  girl's  friend,  if  ever  there  was  one. 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

With  desperation  she  finally  broke  her  silence.  I 
suppose  that  we  who  have  no  such  thing  to  confess 
cannot  conceive  what  moral  courage  it  required.  "I've 
lost  my  razor!"  she  cried.  Not  even  Bernhardt  could 
put  more  tragedy  into  four  words.  I  felt  the  tears 
come.  Poor,  poor  girl!  To  have  to  confess  that  she 
has  to  use  one!  Could  one  reach  lower  depths  of 
mortification?  I  pressed  her  hand  tenderly,  and  whis- 
pered, for  I  felt  that  not  even  the  breezes  must  know 
this  blighting  secret:  "I'll  see  if  I  can't  borrow  the 
general's  for  you."  She  whispered  back:  "He  doesn't 
shave  himself!"  and  I  was  so  upset  over  her  predica- 
ment that  I  didn't  think,  at  the  time,  how  odd  it 
was  that  she  should  know. 

I  suggested  electrolysis.  "Not  for  worlds!"  she 
cried,  and,  somehow,  I  felt  that  I'd  better  say  no 
more.  But  we  walked  for  quite  a  time — reluctantly, 
I  thought,  on  Miss  Siggins'  part.  As  we  neared  the 
hotel  I  begged  and  received  permission  to  fasten  her 
skirt.  "Why,"  I  exclaimed,  before  I  thought,  as  I 
put  my  fingers  inside  the  skirt  belt,  "dont  you  wear 
"No,  I  don't!"  she  snapped.  "I  tried  'em, 
but  I  just  couldn't  stand  for  'em."  And  even  through 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 
her  veil  I  could  see  that  she  colored.     But  really — 


Miss  Siggins  has  found  her  razor.  I'm  so  glad  for 
her.  She  has  a  fine  skin — when  she's  shaved.  I  do 
hope  that  Adrienne  hasn't  noticed.  But  even  if  she 
had  she's  too  sensitive  to  mention  it — even  to  me. 
Miss  Siggins  kissed  my  hand  this  morning.  She  ap- 
preciates my  ignoring  her  misfortune.  I'm  getting 
quite  fond  of  her,  though  I  have  begun  to  wonder  if 
she  can  be  one  of  these  dreadful  "new  women"  that 
they  talk  about,  who  smoke  cigarettes,  for  once  or 
twice  I've  been  almose  certain  that  I  smelled  smoke 
about  her  clothing.  Well!  if  she  does  I  suppose  I 
havn't  the  right  to  interfere  so  long  as  she  confines 
their  use  to  the  privacy  of  her  own  apartment;  but  I 
do  hope  Adrienne  won't  think  I  countenance  such 
things.  And  I  do  wish  she  wouldn't  use  such  out- 
rageous slang.  I  consider  it  very  improper  for  young 
ladies;  but  Adrienne  doesn't  seem  as  shocked  as  I 
could  wish.  Ah,  well,  our  outing  will  soon  be  over 
and  Adrienne  will  be  removed  from  her  influence — 
whatever  it  may  be. 


57 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Extract  from  the  Diary  of  General  Tenniel. 

The  Lake  Hotel. 

Our  ride  over  the  continental  divide,  from  the  Upper 
Basin  to  the  Yellowstone  lake,  was  very  pleasant. 
We  beguiled  the  way  with  story  telling,  and  I  noticed 
the  absolute  cleanliness  of  the  park.  The  devastation 
caused  by  past  forest  fires  is  heart-breaking,  and  the 
fallen  timber  is  remarkable  in  its  confused  profusion. 

When  we  were  on  the  summit  of  the  divide,  8,336 
feet  above  the  ocean,  the  senator  was  moved  to  tell 
an  amusing  story.  In  Alaskan  waters,  a  woman 
asked:  "How  high  above  the  sea  level  are  we,  now 
that  we're  so  far  north?"  That  reminded  me  of  the 
lady  from  the  Hub  who  said  that  it  was  not  remark- 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

able  that  the  sun  had  not  set  at  Juneau  at  half  past 
nine,  for,  after  all,  it  was  only  half  past  six  in  Boston. 

Ancient  of  Days  showed  his  skill  in  guiding  gallop- 
ing horses  down  the  famous  Cork-screw  hill,  after  th< 
height  of  land  was  passed, — a  terror  to  the  timid. 
Mrs.  Ellis  got  quite  frightened  and  I  held  her  in. 
The  work  of  the  government  can't  be  too  highly 
commended,  on  these  mountain  roads.  No  side 
hills,  no  ruts.  Smooth,  even,  wide, — it  is  a  pleasure  to 
travel  over  the  park  roads. 

Where  the  road  first  skirts  the  Yellowstone  lake 
there  are  some  interesting  Paint  Pots  whose  mode- 
colored  mud  blubs  and  flops  like  hasty  pudding.  The 
senator  remarked  on  their  slow  action,  and  said  that 
some  of  the  springs  and  geysers  that  we've  seen 
reminded  him  of  what  the  Honorable  Frank  Cush- 
man  said  of  his  famous  Insurgent  speech  in  Congress: 
"It  came  right  off  the  front  end  of  the  cook-stove!" 

The  senator  had  quite  an  unpleasant  experience  at 
the  Paint  Pots.  We  were  alone,  and,  as  he  is  still 
without  his  glasses,  he  inadvertently  stepped  too  near 
one  of  the  cauldrons  and  slipped.  He  was  a  sight 
when  he  scrambled  back  to  terra  firma.  He  wouldn't 
go  back  to  the  lunch  station,  so  we  went  down  to  the 
shore  of  the  lake,  and  I  wet  my  handkerchief  and 
rubbed  where  he  couldn't  and  he  rubbed  where  he 
could.  We  walked  until  he  was  dry. 


59 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 


From  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Anabella  Ellis 

The  Lake. 

We  came  by  steamer  from  the  Thumb  of  the  lake, 
and  stopped  at  the  island  to  see  the  buffalo  and — 

Adrienne  interrupted  me  to  ask  if  she  and  Miss 
Siggins  might  dance  with  others  in  the  dining  room. 
I  went  down  with  her,  of  course. 

They  were  still  waltzing  when  General  Ten- 
niel  came  in  and  sat  beside  me.  When  the  girls  came 
up  he  cavalierly  ordered  them  to  go  and  enjoy  them- 
selves, and  give  him  a  chance.  He  said  he'd  not  had 
an  opportunity  to  speak  with  me  for  days — which  was 
gross  exaggeration. 

Then,  to  be  pleasant,  he  immediately  asked  me 
where  the  senator  was.  He  said  it  was  quite  a  rarity 
not  to  find  him  close  at  my  side.  I  didn't  know  where 
he  was!  All  I  know  is  that  he  got  dreadfully  put 
out  because — well,  on  account  of  something  I  stopped 
his  saying,  on  the  steamer,  and  he  wouldn't  speak  at 
dinner.  He  must  remember  that  I  am  chaperoning 
Adrienne,  and  not  be  too  precipitate  in  his  transfer  of 
affections.  The  general  has  been  so  like  a  bear  for  a 
day  or  two  that  I  was  too  lonely  for  anything,  and 
I  confess  to  you,  dear  diary,  that  I  shed  a  few  tears 
on  your  pages. 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Then  he  referred  most  unkindly  to  "my  well-known 
proclivities,"  and  wanted  to  know  if  I  couldn't  let 
anybody  alone!  He  was  horrid.  Then  he  volun- 
teered the  information  that  he  had  seen  the  senator 
prowling  in  the  vicinity  of  the  tall  timber.  Weil, 
I  didn't  ask  him  to  take  to  the  woods! 

Somehow  it  all  put  me  in  good  humor,  and  I 
exerted  myself  to  make  the  general  feel  as  amiable  as 
I.  It  was  not  long  before  he  proposed  that  we  take  a 
little  stroll  on  the  porch.  We  were  crossing  the  of- 
fice when  the  outside  door  flew  open  and  the  senator, 
tripping  his  toe  on  the  sill  in  his  haste,  fell  headlong  on 
the  floor.  It  was  spectacular. 

"A  bear!"  he  gasped,  "A  grizzly!" 

Such  confusion.  No  one  shut  the  door  and  some- 
thing followed  the  senator.  Adrienne  shrieked: 

"ITS  A  CALF!" 

Poor,  little,  innocent,  bewildered  calf!  It  had  no 
intention  of  frightening  a  crowd  of  people  into  hysterics ; 
it  simply  wanted  its  supper.  It  was,  as  we  learned, 
after  the  men  had  climbed  down  from  desks,  tables  and 
chairs,  and  after  the  ladies  had  been  restored  to  their 
feet  and  senses,  a  pet  of  one  of  the  stablemen — its 
mother  having  died  when  it  was  yet,  as  one  might 
say,  an  infant  in  arms. 

The  man  had  forgotten  to  feed  or  fasten  it  in  the 


61 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

stable  when  night  came,  and  the  little,  cold  nose  had 
been  thrust  expectantly  into  the  senator's  hand  as  he 
passed  it  in  the  dark. 

I'm  too  tired  with  laughing  to  write  more.  But 
Adrienne  declares  that  never,  never,  will  she  marry  the 
senator.  Marry  a  man  afraid  of  a  three  weeks'  calf? 
I  tried  to  point  out  to  her  that  he  couldn't  see  that  the 
appalling  thing  that  loomed  up  before  him  in  the 
night,  and  bawled  for  its  supper,  was  a  calf  and  not 
a  grizzly — but  it's  useless.  What  I'll  say  to  Isabella 
I'm  sure  I  don't  know.  She'll  blame  me,  that's  certain! 
Perhaps  she'll  even  think  that  I  got  that  stableman  to — 
a  thought  comes!  What  was  the  general  doing  out 
by  the  barns  when  he  saw  the  senator  stalking  by? 
If  he- 

But  oh !  how  his  heart  beat  as  he  held  me  close  when 
the  calf  ambled  into  the  office.  And  I  don't  think 
that  its  accelerated  throbs  were  due  to  fear.  He 
never  had  me  in  his  arms  before! 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

Diary  of  Mrs.' Ellis  continued. 

The  Lake. 

This  morning  we  had  the  first  newspapers  that 
we've  seen  since  entering  the  Park.  Adrienne  opened 
another  daily  (we  had  a  three  weeks  accumulation), 
threw  it  down,  and  fled  from  the  room.  The  general 
took  the  discarded  paper  up  hurriedly  and  sped  after 
Adrienne.  I  distinctly  heard  him  say,  "Those 
damned  reporters,"  and  I  got  so  frightened  that  I 
nearly  died.  What  if  Isabella's  husband  had  suc- 
cumbed to  the  measles?  Yet  I  knew  better,  at  once, 
for  Isabella  would  have  wired.  So  there  was  noth- 
ing to  do  but  to  follow  them. 

Adrienne  was  crying  miserably  when  we  found  her. 

"Oh.  Auntie,"  she  began,  "mother'll  see  that!  Oh 
what  shall  we  do?  I  never  thought  anyone  would 
find  out!" 

"For  mercy's  sake,  Adrienne,"  I  said,  "What  have 
you  read  that  scares  you  so?" 

Then  the  general  thought  to  show  me  the  paper. 

MYSTERIOUS  DISAPPEARANCE  OF 
MR.  RANDOLPH  CECIL  SEARS 
FROM  MAMMOTH  HOT  SPRINGS 

was  sprawled  in  the  biggest  kind  of  type  on  the  first 
page. 


64 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

It  was  terrible!  To  think  that  dear  young  fellow 
should  disappear  like  that!  No  wonder  that  Adrienne 
was  heart-broken!  But  why  did  she  turn  to  General 
Tenniel  in  her  woe,  instead  of  to  her  aunt?  Ail 
of  a  sudden  it  dawned  upon  me  where  he  was  sup 
posed  to  have  disappeared. 

''Adrienne!"  I  exclaimed,  "was  that  young  man 
whom  we  saw  with  the  general,  at  Gardiner,  Randolph 
Sears?" 

"Yes,"  she  whimpered. 

"And  he  came  to  Mammoth  Hot  Springs?" 

"Yes." 

"Didn't  you  know  that  he  followed  us  to  Old 
Faithful  Inn?" 

"Yes,"  she  admitted  reluctantly.  "How  did  you 
know?" 

"I'm  not  as  blind  as  I  look,"  I  told  her  severely.  "1 
saw  him  smoking  a  cigar  the  night  we  went  out  to 
watch  Old  Faithful." 

"He  didn't  exactly  follow  us,  Auntie,"  she  then 
said.  "You  see—" 

"Don't  quibble,  please!  He  was  there!  You  admit 
that!  And  now  he's  lost!"  A  perfect  flash  of  intui- 
tion came  over  me.  "Adrienne!  You  know  where  he 
is  now!" 

"Y-e-s.  Don't  you?"  She  smiled  faintly,  and  the 
general  looked  puzzled. 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

"No,  I  don't,"  I  snapped.  I  was  vexed.  Did  she 
think  that  I  was  a  mind  reader?  "If  he's  effaced 
himself  for  3  time  to  make  a  sensation,  and  to  create 
a  favorable  sentiment  with  your  mother  when  she  reads 
this  newspaper  article  he's  mistaken  in  your  mother! 

Do  you  think  he's  dead?"     I  finally  asked. 

"Oh,  no!"  cried  Adrienne  and  the  general  with  one 
voice. 

Adrienne  flung  her  arms  around  me  and  began  sob- 
bing again. 

"Oh,  Auntie  Anabella,  let  me  tel!  you!  I've  felt 
so  guilty  all  the  time!  Don't  you  understand?" 

"Now,  don't  tell  me  another  word,  dearie," 
I  commanded.  "If  you  and  the  general  have 
connived  and  have  plotted  with  Randolph  to 
lose  himself,  trying  to  move  your  mother's 
firm  determination  that  you  shall  not  marry  him,  I'm 
not  going  to  interfere."  I  sighed  and  looked  at  the 
general.  "I've  been  interferred  with  myself,"  said  I. 
"Of  course  you've  done  very  wrong,  and  I  do  hone 
that  Mr.  Sears  is  comfortable,  wherever  he  is  hiding, 
and  I  hope  a  geyser  won't  blow  him  up;  but  I  simply 
don't  want  to  know  anything  definite." 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

So  it  was  agreed.  I  could  meet  Isabella  with  a 
clear  conscience,  the  general  said.  And  he  added, 
"You  little  Innocence!"  which  used  to  be  his  sweet- 
heart name  for  me.  My  heart  was  too  light.  I  didn't 
care  where  Adrienne's  lover  was,  for  perhaps  my 
own  was  seeking  me. 

"But  where  is  he?"  I  asked  about  an  hour  late., 
and  they  laughed  at  me,  so.  But  it  just  came  over  me 
that  I'd  like  to  know. 

But  all  this  excitement  was  trying,  and  I  thought  it 
would  be  good  for  Adrienne  to  take  a  walk,  after 
dinner.  I  had  a  wretched  headache  and  the  girls 
went  together.  I  cautioned  them  about  disturbing 
immature  veal. 

Oh,  what  is  that? 

A   shriek Adrie 


(Later.) 

They  tell  me  that  Miss  Siggins  will  live  and  not  be 
crippled  for  life.  Fortunately  the  ripping  claws  did 
not  strike  her  face. 

Thank  God  that  Adrienne  was  not  hurt! 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

From  Mrs.  Ellis'  Diary — Continued. 

The  Lake. 

My  nerves  are  in  a  state  approximating  calm. 
When  I  flew  to  my  window  that  night  I  saw  a  group 
of  men  approaching  the  hotel,  carrying — something. 
I  ran  to  the  office  (I  don't  know  how  I  had  the 
strength),  and  met  them  bringing  in  Miss  Siggins, 
dress  and  waist  much  torn,  and  blood  over  every- 
thing. But,  after  all,  although  I  know  now  th  it 
I  saw  Miss  Siggins,  at  the  time  I  saw  only  Adrienne, 
dead,  as  I  thought,  for  men  were  carrying  her. 
I  fainted  as  I  tried  to  reach  Adrienne's  side.  But 
her  dear  face  was  bending  over  me  when  I  recovered 
consciousness,  and  Miss  Siggins  had  been  cared  for 
by  a  surgeon  and  a  trained  nurse  who  chanced  to  be 
among  the  tourists. 

When  I  read  this  diary  over,  in  the  years  to  come, 
I'm  sure  that  Adrienne's  presence  of  mind  and  her 
absolute  lack  of  thousht  for  self  preservation  will 
shine  brighter  and  brighter.  And  for  a  stranger,  so 
to  speak.  I  don't  think  I  could  have  stood  and  clubbed 
an  infuriated  bear  with  my  furled  parasol  when  at 
any  moment  it  might  have  turned  to  rend  me.  I  ac- 
knowledge this;  but  my  cowardice  but  makes  Ad- 
rienne's deed  the  more  meritorious  I  say  cowardice; 
but  when  I  think  of  how  I  would  have  felt  if  it  had 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

been  the  general  who  was  in  such  terrible  danger  and 
I  standing  by,  I  almost  know  that  I  would  have  done 
the  same  as  Adrienne.  I'd  have  sprung  at  that  bear 
with  my  whole  strength — to  save  the  general! 

The  bear,  poor  thing,  wasn't  so  much  to  blame, 
after  all,  and  I  hear  that  Miss  Siggins'  first  thought 
was,  after  she  knew  that  Adrienne  was  safe,  that 
no  one  should  think  that  she  blamed  the  bear.  She 
was  glad,  and  so  were  we,  when  the  park 
guards  captured  the  fools  who  had  been  stoning  the 
bear's  cubs  that  afternoon  (which  is  strictly  against 
park  regulations;  but  when  was  there  ever  a  time 
when  breakers  of  the  law  didn't  think  it  "cute" 
to  do  that  which  is  forbidden?),  and  they  are  al- 
ready sentenced  to  a  heavy  fine  and  imprisonment. 
The  bear  could  not  distinguish  between  friend  and 
foe.  How  could  she  tell  that  Miss  Siggins  and  Ad- 
rienne were  not  the  brutes  who  had  tormented  her 
babies  ? 

Oh,  such  a  night!  Everyone  was  so  kind.  But 
Miss  Siggins  won't  let  me  come  near  her  (I  suppose 
that  she's  afraid  that  my  sympathetic  nature  will  be 
overcome).  And  the  general  won't  let  me  see  the 
surgeon  or  the  nurse.  He  says  that  they  might  tell 
me  more  than  I  really  ought  to  know.  He,  too, 
wishes  to  spare  me — dear  fellow! 


69 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

I  was  interrupted  by  a  note  from  the  senator.  He 
asked  me  for  a  few  minutes  conversation.  I  sent 
him  word  that  I'd  be  in  the  parlor,  and  immediately 
went  down.  I  had  hoped  that  the  real  danger  in 
which  Adrienne  had  been  would  cause  him  to  rem- 
ember that  he  has  come  on  this  trip  with  the  avowed 
intent  of  winning  her.  I  wondered  if  I  have  been 
a  little— 

When  I  saw  the  senator  I  fairly  shook.  He  was 
almost  frothing  at  the  mouth  with  rage,  and  the  hand 
with  which  he  held  his  glasses  (they  had  just  come  this 
morning,  and  he's  seen  Miss  Siggins — much  against 
the  general's  and  Adrienne's  wishes)  trembled  with 
his  anger. 

"Madam,"  he  exclaimed,  without  waiting  for  for- 
malities, "Madam —  '  and  he  choked.  "Madam,'* 
(that  made  three  times)  "I've  been  grossly  deceived." 
Then  I  knew  that  all  was  over,  and  I  sank  into  a 
willow  rocker.  There's  a  sort  of  moral  support  in  A 
willow  rocker — at  least  there  was  in  this.  Yet  I 
felt  that  I  must  say  something.  It  was  best,  I  could 
see,  to  be  perfectly  honest  and  open  with  him. 

"I  know  it!"  then  said  I.  He  snorted.  I  don't  like 
snorts;  but  he  had  great  provocation. 

"And  you  sit  there  and  admit  that  you've  been  a 


70 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

party  to  this?"  he  burst  out,  "You,  whom  I've  come 
to  feel  is  the  one  woman  in  all  the  world  to  me?" 

I  was  startled.  But  I  suppose  after  one's  proposed 
to,  at  least,  three  others  (and  buried  'em)  that  the 
conventional  words  and  time  seem  trite,  and  that  one 
must  break  the  deadly  monotony. 

"Why,  senator,  this  is  so  sudden,"  I  murmured, 
ignoring  his  opening  remark.  I  hadn't  been  a  party 
to  anything  except  to  adapt  myself  to  the  conditions 
(I  told  Isabella  I  wouldn't  make  a  good  chaperon,  and 
she  retorted  that  if  I'd  let  the  men  alone  I'd  do  well 
enough.  Sisters  are  so  brutally  frank,  at  times!),  and 
if  he  didn't  know  that  Adrienne  loved  Randolph 
Cecil  Sears  before  we  came  to  the  park,  why,  it 
was  high  time  that  he  did,  though  I  couldn't,  for  the  life 
of  me,  imagine  how  he'd  discovered  it.  "How'd 
you  find  out?"  I  asked,  following  the  trend  of  my 
thoughts  rather  than  logical  sequence. 

At  that  he  led  me,  very  gently  for  a  man  who 
had  greeted  me  like  a  tornado,  to  a  tete-a-tete. 

"Which?"  he  then  asked,  not  unnaturally.  "Tha1: 
I  loved  you,  or — 

"Oh,  I  meant  about  Adrienne  and " 

"Don't  talk  to  me  about  Adrienne!"  He  got  dread- 
fully excited  again  and  I  had  to  calm  him  by  gently 
stroking  his  coat  lapel.  It  calmed  him.  "Why,  my 


-i 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

dear  Anabella — I  may  call  you  Anabella,  mayn't  I? — 
she's  pulling  the  wool  ov— 

"Don't  you  say  another  word!"  I  interrupted,  sit- 
ting very  erect.  "Adrienne  has  confided  in  me  to 
the  uttermost,  and  I  thoroughly  uphold  her  sentiments. 
If  she  loves  him,  I  for  one — 

"And   you've    known,    then,    that — that — that — 


1 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

"If  you  mean  that  Adrienne  loves  Mr.  Randolph 
Cecil  Sears —  "  I  began. 

"Yes,  I  do  mean  him!"  snarled  the  senator,  quite 
forgetting  my  soothing.  "And  you  mean  to  sit  there 
and  tell  me  to  my  face  that  you  know  hVs  here — 
here  in  this — " 

"He  was  in  the  park,  senator.  Yes,  I'll  admit 
that  I  know  that.  But  I  don't  know  where  he  is  now. 
What  does  it  matter?  You  say  that  you  find  that 
you're  mistaken  in  your  feelings  for  my  niece — 

"I  hate  to  be  made  a  fool  of!"  the  senator  choked 
like  a  baby  with  a  penny  whistle  in  his  throat;  but  he 
let  me  put  my  hand  on  his.  It  calmed  him.  "And 
you  tell  me,  on  your  honor,"  he  broke  out,  after  a  mo- 
ment, "that  you  don't  know  what  I'm  driving  at?" 

"No,    I   don't!"    I   answered      impatiently,      for   I 


73 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

wanted  him  to  leave  Adrienne's  love  affairs  and  at- 
tend to  his  own.  I  was  interested  in  his.  Just  then 
Adrienne  came  in,  and  seeing  the  senator,  looked  start- 
led, and  withdrew  hastily. 

"Well,  let  it  go,  then.  Perhaps  our  trip  was  to 
show  me  that — it's  you  that  I  want,  and  not  Adrienne. 
She's  so  cold,  so  distrait,  when  she's  with  me.  You're 
vivacious,  and  always  trying  to  make  others  happy. 
I'm  building  a  big  house  in  New  York,  and  I'm  think- 
ing that  a  middle-aged — that  is"  (I  knew  then  that 
I  loathed  him!),  "you're  pretty  near  my  ideal."  I 
drew  away  from  him,  but  he  went  on:  "As  for  the 
part  played  by  Adrienne  and  Miss  Siggins —  '  he 
choked  again,  "and  the  general — " 

"You  will  please,"  interrupted  that  gentleman  nam- 
ed, in  a  towering  rage,  as  he  entered  the  parlor  and 
saw  what  he  saw,  "remove  your  arm  from  Mrs. 
Ellis'  waist!  She  once  did  me  the  honor  to  say 
that  she'd  marry  me,  and  I  now  claim  that  promise's 
redemption!" 


74 


CHAPERONING   ADRIENNE. 

From  Senator  Rowley's  Memorandum  Book. 

Rec'd  glasses  to-day.     Wired  Hale  to  meet  me  ul 
Livingston  on  the  9th.      Three  weeks  wasted. 


" 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

From  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  AnabeUa  Elli*. 

The  Canyon. 

We  are  so  idiotically  happy — the  general  and  I! 
Adrienne  pretends  that  she's  my  chaperon,  and  is  as 
full  of  joy  as  though  it  were  her  own  engagement. 
I  feared  that  she'd  be  lonely,  after  it  was  decided  that 
it  was  best  for  Miss  Siggins  to  go  directly  home; 
but  she  says  that  her  daily  letters  from  Randolph 
(he's  begun  to  write  to  her)  compensate  her  for 
anything. 

We  insisted  that  we  all  omit  visiting  the  Canyon; 
but  Miss  Siggins  resisted  that  idea  strenuously.  Said 
that  so  long  as  the  senator  was  obliged  to  cut  his 
trip  short  (he  said  that  his  party  demands  were  im- 
perative) that  she  should  get  along  very  nicely  if 
they  went  together.  She  was  weak  from  loss  of  blood ; 
but  the  surgeon  and  the  nurse  were  also  on  their  way 
out — could  anything  have  been  more  easily  arranged? 
I  couldn't  have  let  her  go  alone,  or,  rather,  alone 

with  the  senator;  but  as  it  is  I'm  in  hope 

that  their  trip  together  may  result  in  uniting  them 
for  life.  It  would  be  a  very  suitable  arrangemenf, 
I  think. 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

I  hadn't  seen  Miss  Siggins,  after  the  accident, 
until  she  was  in  the  ambulance,  which  the  govern- 
ment, at  the  general's  telephone,  sent  from  Fort 
Yellowstone.  Poor  girl,  she  was  so  pale.  I  gave 
her  a  letter  to  Isabella  and  begged  her  to  stop 
off  a  day  or  two  there  and  rest  on  her  Eastern 
journey.  The  measles  are  over,  and  I  know 
that  Isabella  would  be  glad  to  see  her,  for  Adrienne's 
sake,  if  no  other,  as  Adrienne  took  such  a  fancy 
to  her  and  saved  her  life  and  everything.  But  she 
didn't  stop.  I've  had  a  letter  from  Isabella  saying 
that  no  one  called.  Isabella  has  given  up  the  idea 
of  meeting  us  here  in  the  park.  I  for  one,  shall 
not  miss  Miss  Siggins  much.  She  was  but  an  in- 
cident in  our  lives,  and  we'll  probably  not  see  her 
again.  I  really  must  ask  the  general  more  about  her. 
I've  been  so  occupied  with  looking  after  Adrienne 
that  I  havn't  taken  the  time.  I  take  life,  usually, 
at  its  surface  value  and  never  look  beneath.  I  do 
not  believe  that  I'd  even  know  Miss  Siggins  without 
her  sunbonnet,  as  I  never  saw  her  except  when  she 
was  wearing  it.  And  as  for  evening  gowns —  I 
simply  can't  conceive  her  shoulders.  They'd  be  im- 
possible. 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Extract  from  General  Tenniel's  Diary. 

The   Canyon. 

And  she  is  mine,  mine!  I  dare  not  write  of  her, 
or  I  shall  be  more  idiotic  that  I  was  when  one-and- 
twenty. 

After  we  sped  our  departing  friends,  we  entered 
our  own  coach  and  were  soon  far  from  the  scene 
of  so  much  incident — the  lake. 

Ancient  of  Days  (who  had  been  retained  during 
our  duress)  became  radiant  when  Adrienne  elected 
to  ride  on  the  seat  with  him,  and  grinned  widely  at  her 
futile  attempts  to  crack  his  long  whip.  The  Yellow- 
stone river,  marvelously  clear,  ran  beside  the  road,  and 
the  Tetons,  seemingly  near,  but  surprisingly  far,  were 
entrancing.  And  such  satisfying,  lung-filling  air!  We 
all  breathed  from  our  diaphrams,  although  Anabella 
was  afraid  to,  for  she  said  the  sight  of  a  feminine 
globe-trotter  whose  girth  was  near  seventy  inches,  was 
too  awful  an  example! 

The  Mud  geyser,  the  last  that  we  saw,  between 
lake  and  canyon,  made  visible  once  more  the  demoniac, 
underground  strife  always  going  on  in  this  wonder- 
land. The  two  ebbing  and  spouting  jets  of  boiling 
mud,  spurting  with  incredible  fury  from  side  openings, 
some  forty  feet  below  the  large,  sticky  rim  of  the 
geyser,  were  frightful  and  frightening.  The  loathing 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

inspired  by  the  sight  was  accentuated  by  the  awful 
stench  and  the  clangorous  sounds  of  hidden  battle, 
immense  and  mournful. 

Alum  creek  started  Ancient  of  Days  to  story-telling. 
He  declared  that  a  lady  had  to  wear  child's  shoes 
after  she  had  inadvertently  stepped  in  the  stream;  and 
that  a  pair  of  bronchos,  drinking  of  the  puckery  fluid, 
shrank  to  Shetland  ponies  before  the  eyes  of  their 
driver!  He  did  not  say  that  he  was  that  particular 
driver;  but  as  he  says  that  he  was  once  a  cowboy  and 
handy  with  a  gun,  we  swallowed  the  story  as  we 
would  have  the  alum  water  if  he  had  insisted,  and 
grew  smaller  (in  our  own  estimation)  proportionately! 

Then  came  Sulphur  mountain,  sparkling  with  yellow 
crystal,  and  when  we  had  climbed  and  descended 
it  we  again  came  near  the  Yellowstone  river  which 
had  gathered  itself  close  and  deep.  Soon  long  shoots 
and  swift  rapids  were  seen.  Then  the  river  hurled 
headlong  over  the  Upper  Falls  and  soon  went  over 
the  Lower  Falls, — a  total  drop,  from  rapids  to  lower 
canyon,  of  more  than  600  feet.  O  wonderful  sight! 


79 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Extract  from  Mrs.  Anabella  Ellis'  Diary. 

The   Canyon. 

We  have  been  so  happy  here.  To-day  we  went 
to  the  ledge  where  one  can  get  a  good  view  of  the 
lower  falls.  Far  more  beautiful  than  Niagara  they  are ; 
although  no  such  volume  of  water.  But  the  somber 
setting  of  pines,  cedars  and  tamaracks  bordering  the 
ravine,  and  the  intenseness  of  the  abyss  enhance  their 
dignity  a  thousandfold.  The  general  showed  us  •'.n 
eagle's  nest,  on  an  upspringing  crag,  hundreds  of  feet 
high,  directly  below  Lookout  Point.  Young  eagles 
were  in  it,  we  could  see  them  with  a  field  glass. 

In  our  many  walks,  in  the  forest,  by  the  roads,  or 
on  the  high  places,  my  dear  general  has  taught  me  to 
look  for  the  footsteps  of  the  furtive  folk  of  the  forest, 
and  we've  seen  the  dainty  imprint  of  the  deer,  and  the 
larger  one  of  the  elk,  while  the  flat  pad  of  a  grizzly 
led  straight  to  the  bear-g  our  mat's  paradise — the  dump. 
Once  his  claws  had  dug  viciously  into  the  dust  of  the 
highway.  What  had  caused  the  unsheathing  of  those 
weapons?  Adrienne  got  quite  faint  when  she  saw 
those  tracks.  It  reminded  her,  all  too  vividly,  of  her 
terrible  experience  at  the  lake.  And  that  makes  me 
think  that  she  had  a  letter  from  Miss  Siggins  to-day. 
She  is  home,  she  writes  and  nearly  recovered.  I,  too, 
got  a  letter.  It  was  from  the  senator,  congratulating 


So 


81 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

me;  but  he  says  that  he'll  never  recover  from  the 
wound  that  his  heart  received.  But  the  general  seems 
to  think  he  will.  I'm  sure  I  hope  so.  It  would  be 
dreadful  for  him  to  pine  away  and  be  buried  by  his 
three  wives,  just  because  he  couldn't  have  me  for  his 
fourth. 

I'm  writing  on  the  piazza  and  Adrienne  has  just 
interrupted  me  to  say  that  she  thinks  the  general  is 
perfect  in  manner,  physique  and  character.  He  is: 
but  fancy  that  child  having  the  intuition  to  discern  it! 

A  buck,  with  horns  still  in  the  velvet,  with  gentle 
doe  close  beside,  just  crossed  the  grass  in  front  of  the 
hotel,  not  ten  feet  from  us.  Adrienne  took  a  picture 
of  them  as  they  stopped  to  graze,  unafraid.  Yester- 
day a  soft-eyed  mother  watched  us  curiously  as  we 
took  her  picture  in  the  woods,  her  fawns  nuzzling  for 
dinner.  I  never  noticed  things  like  this  before,  and 
I'm  afraid  I  have  not  seen  as  much  of  the  park  as  the 
others.  But  my  dear  one  has  made  me  see  all  these 
things  through  the  eyes  of  love.  He  says  that  he 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

will  teach  me  much  that  I  have  never  known,  and 
the  longest  lesson  of  all  will  be  love — love!  Oh,  but 
he  is  a  dear! 

To  return  to  the  deer — not  dear! — He  says  that 
once  the  least  sound  or  move  would  cause  the  white 
tailed  deer,  in  particular,  to  spring  wildly  for  the  North 
pole.  The  Indians  believed,  he  says,  that  the  deer  said 
"Injun!  Injun!"  at  every  leap.  Now  the  strict  rules 
of  the  park  make  these  charming  creatures  unafraid. 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

Extract  from  the  Diary  of  General  Tenniel. 

The  tremenduous  impressions  one  receives  here  al 
the  Grand  Canyon  makes  one  feel  their  own  insigni- 
ficence.  One  feels  as  though  they  were  in  a  world  of 
giants  bygone.  Ruined  castles  are  among  these  es- 
carpments where  they,  no  doubt,  lived  when  the  world 
was  young.  There  are  pinnacles,  and  needles,  and 
sublimated  turrets  of  stone,  in  endless  profusion,  and 
each  has  the  eternal  individuality  given  by  the  Great 
Maker. 

To-day  we  saw  the  culmination  of  the  wonders  of 
the  Yellowstone  National  Park.  We  have  been  to 
Inspiration  Point.  As  we  walked  the  three  miles  from 
the  hotel,  for  we  wanted  to  approach  it  gradually, 
we  wondered  if  there  could  be  more  awe-inspiring 
scenes  than  the  glimpses  we  had  of  the  canyon.  And 
then — we  knew! 

A  narrow,  shelving,  shaley  path  connects  safely 
with  the  outpost  of  rock  called  Inspiration  Point,  and 
that  jagged  cliff  is  nearly  2,000  feet  above  the  Yellow- 
stone river.  It  looks  it! 

Clasping  dear  Anabella's  hand  we  went  to  the 
goal.  No  one  spoke.  Inspiration  Point  is  surely  one 
of  God's  thrones! 

Anabella  and  I  seemed  to  be  cut  off  from  the  world, 
standing  on  this  rock  scarcely  six  feet  across,  and  we 
looked  out  and  over  and  through  the  transparent,  trans- 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

lucent  space, — into  space  filled  and  glowing  with  a 
luminous  light  reflected  from  this  stupendous  gorge. 
The  Yellowstone  river,  silent  after  the  thunder  of 
its  fall,  slipped  along,  a  narrow  nbbon  of  blue-green, 
shot  and  flecked  with  white  riffles,  hundreds  of  fathoms 
below. 

We  were  sorry  that  Adrienne  could  not  be  with  us, 
but  she  had  preferred  that  we  two  go  for  the  first  time, 
alone.  She  will  come  with  us  to-morrow. 

The  coloring  of  the  canyon?  the  chromatic  play  of 
light?  How  can  I  presume  to  attempt  description 
when  the  greatest  word  artists  of  the  world  have 
expressed  their  despair  of  making  real  this  wonder- 
ful scene?  Soft  washes  of  the  yellow  of  beeches  in 
autumn  sweep  adown  the  steep  slopes;  reds  of  frost- 
tipped  maples  ;dazzling  whiteness  of  freshly  fallen 
snow;  chromes,  umbers,  blacks;  delicate  tints  far  and 
near,  intensified  by  radiant  sunshine, — all  these  chang- 
ed with  no  inharmonious  note  into  the  shaded  greens 
of  maiden-hair  ferns  and  mossy  rocks,  and  they,  in 
turn,  brought  the  high  lights  above  into  the  shadows 
of  the  river.  Tracks  zig-zagged  down,  down,  down 
to  the  cool  flood,  showing  where  buck  and  doe  and 
fawn  go,  sure-footed,  to  drink  at  morn  and  ni^ht.  A 
bird  flew  fearlessly  across  the  void,  and  tears  came, 
I  knew  not  why. 

Our  walk  back  was  very  silent. 


86 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

From  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Tenniel. 

At  Isabella's. 

Three  months.  It  doesn't  seem  that  the  general  and 
I  have  been  married  three  months!  And  to-day,  at 
high  noon,  Adrienne  and  Randolph  were  married! 
Time  works  wonders,  to  be  sure!  To  think  that 
Isabella's  search  for  Truth  should  lead  her  right  where 
it  made  everything  adjustable!  Randolph  Cecil  Sears 
is  now  High  Church!  So,  now,  is  Isabella.  The 
effect  of  the  cause  is  the  marriage  before  mentioned 
(That  reads  well;  but  I'm  not  quite  sure  if  it  means 
anything,  although  I  know  what  I  mean).  I'll  not 
say  a  word,  in  this  record  of  the  most  delightful  of 
summer  outings,  of  what  Isabella  said  to  Adrienne 
and  me  when  we  returned,  as  one  might  say,  single- 
handed.  At  least  Adrianne  was.  I  had  the  general 
to  show,  and  fortunately  he  took  matters  into  his 
own  hands  and  Isabella  subsided.  I  sometimes  won- 
der if.  .  .  .,.  .but  there,  her  husband  isn't  the  same 
disposition  at  all  that  the  general  is,  so  there's  no  use 
in  speculation.  But  I  don't  care  for  meek  men,  myself. 

Ever  since  we  came  (yesterday)  I've  been  puzzling 
my  brains  to  think  of  whom  Randolph  reminds  rne. 
Although  I  never,  to  my  knowledge,  saw  him  before 
(excepting  those  two  times  in  the  park,  and  then, 
if  I  remember  correctly,  he  was  smooth  shaven, — and 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

one  was  when  he  was  a  long  way  off  and  the  other 
after  midnight  on  a  moonless  night),  there's  something 
about  him  that  seems  strangely  familiar.  Yet  I  can't 
place  him.  I'll  ask  the  general  when  he  comes  in. 

Oh,  before  I  forget  it,  I  want  to  set  down  that  the 
general  solemnly  declares  that  he  had  nothing  to  do 
with  that  calf's  nocturnal  wanderings.  That  was 
fate,  pure  and  simple.  I  should  never  have  had  so 
unjust  a  thought  of  my  chivalrous  husband. 

I  hear  the  general's  step,  and  we'll  close  this  little 
book,  as  we  shall  hereafter  live,  together. 


9o 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 

RETROSPECTION. 

Anabella  has  just  given  me  her  record  of  our 
trip  through  the  Yellowstone  National  Park.  I  have 
begged  permission  to  add  a  few  words,  and  when 
we  are  old  we're  going  to  open  and  read  it  together. 

Thank  God!  I  can,  at  last,  say  together  forever. 
It  has  been  a  long  wait.  .  .  . 

Through  retrospective  eyes  our  days  in  the  park 
lose  nothing.  We  recall  the  charm  of  the  high  pla- 
teaus, and  shudder  at  the  thought  of  Hell's  Half 
Acre.  The  peace  given  by  Hayden's  Valley  offsets 
the  fear  at  Mud  Geyser.  The  ducks  are  rearing  their 
young,  the  beaver  are  felling  trees,  and  the  trout 
are  leaping,  flashing  in  the  mountain  streams  even 
as  they  have  always.  Johnny  Bear  and  his  breed 
roam  or  hibernate  in  the  forests,  and  the  deer,  elk 
and  buffalo  live  in  peace.  The  Morning  Glory  Pool 
shadows  forth  its  lovely  blue,  and  its  reflection  is 
in  the  nodding  bluebell  on  its  brink.  The  recollections, 
coming  thick  and  fast,  of  the  tact,  the  graciousness 
and  the  utter  forgetfulness  of  self,  as  Anabelle  tried 
to  reconcile  the  conflicting  elements  in  our  party,  while 
not  in  the  least  apprehending  the  real  conditions,  are 
the  most  delightful  of  all  the  delightful  memories  oi 
the  park. 

"Our  hard,  stiff  lines  of  life  with  her 

"Are  flowing  curves  of  beauty." 


t 


CHAPERONING  ADRIENNE. 


Small  wonder  that  every  man  who  ever  knew  her 
bowed  at  her  feet!  What  a  lucky  dog  I  am!  And 
over  the  common  things  of  life  love  throws  its  glamor, 
while  we  remember  the  wild  life  in  the  woods,  which 
was  the  reverse  side  of  the  geysers  whose  wrath- 
choked  growl  intimated  what  would  happen  if  nature 
relaxed  her  grasp  on  things  unseen. 

Old  Faithful  plays  eternally.  The  canyon  flames 
with  light  and  brilliancy.  The  rainbows  span  its 
abysmal  sides  as  the  morning  sun  glints  on  the  rising 
mist,  and  the  eagles  scream  from  their  eyrie  unheard 
in  the  supreme,  all-conquering  and  triumphant  hosan- 
na  of  the  Falls  of  the  Yellowstone. 

"Just  as  of  old  the  seasons  come  and  go, 
The  spring  with  its  blossoms  and  the  winter  with 
its  snow," 

and  Wonderland  remains,  in  memory  and  reality, 
ever  changing  and  ever  the  same,  as  it  was  when 
my  dear,  little,  unsuspicious  Anabella  was  chaperoning 
Adrienne. 


NOTES   OF   OUR   TRIP    THROUGH   THE 
YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK. 


NOTES   OF   OUR   TRIP   THROUGH   THE 
YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK. 


NOTES   OF   OUR   TRIP    THROUGH   THE 
YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK. 


NOTES   OF   OUR   TRIP    THROUGH    THE 
YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK. 


'PS  35/5 


